Q&A with Kimi at Monaco

From Autosport.com | Ferrari.com

Q. We’ve seen the car is much quicker now, so what can we expect in Monaco?

Kimi Raikkonen:
It was definitely better in Spain. We made a step forward but this race
is always a little bit different compared to normal circuits. I think
we will do the best we can and see how it goes tomorrow. It is too
difficult to say where we are going to be.

Q. Ferrari is going to use KERS this weekend. How helpful can it be in Monte Carlo?

KR: It should be helpful, otherwise we wouldn’t
have put it on the car. It is the same story as at other circuits we
have been using it, but maybe it is not as big a help here as it was
compared to the last race.

Q. How would you describe the mood inside Ferrari at the moment?

KR: It is as good as before. Of course, when you
have not such good results as you want, it is always not as good a
spirit as normal because everybody wants to win and wants to push hard
– so sometimes there is a bit of tension. But, overall, the people are
the same. It is the same kind of work and we want to get back where we
should be.

Q. And what about yourself? Do you feel 100 per cent comfortable?

KR: Yes. There is no reason why I shouldn’t. The things are the same for me as they were before.

Q. So what about the rumours that Fernando Alonso is replacing you?

KR: I’ve always said the same answer. I don’t even
need to say it again – we can wait until next year and then we will
find out. I know what I am going to do, so I cannot even be bothered to
talk about all those stories. So you can decide yourself and then we
will wait and see what happens.

Q. The courts in Paris rejected the injunction attempt by
Ferrari. What is your personal opinion about this situation for F1 and
Ferrari?

KR: For me, first of all, it is not good for F1 on
any side to have this sort of thing going on. For me, if Ferrari is not
in F1 nor any other big team like BMW or McLaren, it is not good for
F1. They are the teams that make F1 and if you change the teams for
other teams, new teams that come from GP2 or somewhere else, then it is
not the same any more.

For me, I am 100 per cent behind the team and whatever they choose
to do, I will go with them. Hopefully everything will get sorted out,
but I am not the guy there working closely with them, so you need to
ask the team for all the details – and probably also the FIA.

Q. Do you feel more a Ferrari driver or an F1 driver in this moment?

KR: I work for Ferrari and we are one big family.
So it is my work and it is the place where I want to race. Whatever
they do, I will do the same with them. We are one family and we do
things together.

Q. If you in the future are just a spectator of F1, would
you go to the races and spend 500 Euros on a race with small teams
competing?

KR: Like I said before, F1 for me is all about the
big teams. We race together and try to be the best. That is my opinion,
but everybody has their own ideas – and probably when I stop in F1 I
will not come to races anyhow. I will stop when I have had enough and
then I will have no interest to come and see it.

Q. The car was quite good at Barcelona but because of
strategy problems and reliability the result was not so good. How
frustrating was that?

KR: Of course it was even more disappointing
because we saw the car was fast and we could not get the results we
wanted. That is how it goes in racing, but at least we know we have
made the first step forward. We still have work to do, but we are
coming back and that is always nice – even if we didn’t get the results
we wanted.

Q. Is there too much pressure on Ferrari for making mistakes?

KR: Probably it doesn’t help, but like I said we
made some silly mistakes, we will try to learn from them and try to
make sure we don’t repeat those things. Unfortunately sometimes it
happens, but we will get it right – although it is taking longer than
we want.

Q. Jenson Button has won four grands prix. Is he unbeatable, and who could beat Brawn GP?

KR: There can be many drivers who can do it, but of
course they look very strong right now. I am sure there will be other
teams winning races later this season, but with all the different rules
people have, and different situations with cars, they definitely are
ahead of people right now. We could see already at the last race that
it is getting closer again.

Q. They say there is no margin for error in Monaco, so where can you make a difference?

KR: You make the laptime around every corner, so
you need to be fast in every place. The most important thing is to get
the car right and then just build up the speed – but you need to have a
strong qualifying and it is pretty difficult. Usually you get stuck
behind people and can only follow them and unless something goes wrong
you cannot do anything to use your own speed.

Q. Last week you were in Maranello for an important
technical meeting and to analyse the performance of the car, and
mistakes. How was the meeting?

KR: It wasn’t what you are thinking. I was there,
but it wasn’t the reasons that people were talking about – it was just
a normal visit I decided to do there. By many different things it
happened to be at the same time, so it is normal that we go over
sometimes and see people and go through things, what we did in the past
races. We just analyse and try to improve.

Q. Ferrari has said it will maybe not participate in F1 next
year, and you are doing a rally next week. If they retire from F1, will
you split immediately to rallying?

KR: I am pretty sure that we are not going to
disappear from F1. But I don’t know, but I cannot be 100 per cent sure.
For sure they will find something to do for me, I will still have a
contract with them – and they are racing in many different categories.
So, I think they will find something for me.

Those are pretty damn good answers from Kimi. Especially regarding the Alonso rumours and Ferrari’s position against the future of F1. I’m comforted by Kimi’s words, when he says "I think they will find something for me" because it’s far too early for me to say goodbye to Kimi. Anyway, let’s go racing in Monte Carlo baby!